


Anxious is to Anxiety

by stormcloud_cos



Series: Sanders Sides Angst [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:27:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27175204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormcloud_cos/pseuds/stormcloud_cos
Summary: In all honesty, it might be better for Roman not to know that he knew. But Janus did know what was happening.Virgil was shifting again.(this work can be found on Wattpad under the same username)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: Sanders Sides Angst [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956703
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	Anxious is to Anxiety

**Author's Note:**

> I knOw Thomas said on his livestream that the purple just happens when Virgil is excited but I wrote the first 5000 words this before that oKAY

_ “Liar.” _

Virgil, as he stood near the staircase in Thomas’s apartment, felt the word ringing in his ears- the word that he and Roman had repeatedly called Thomas just hours ago. And for what? To get him to stop finding ways to deal with those awkward situations?

“Oh, ease up, Gerard Gay! No need to worry right now! Thomas actually didn’t pass up this amazing opportunity! And you helped!” The usually anxious one jumped and the sight of Roman jumping in front of him. 

_ He’s right, we don’t need to worry now. _ “I know, right?” Virgil felt a wave of excitement crash over him once again. Thomas  _ had _ just gotten the chance of a lifetime, and he didn’t pass it up! “I wonder what’s going to happen next with Nico! Where will their next date be?! You said something about a place in France, right? Perfect romantic setting!”

“Exactly!” The princely one was bouncing on his toes, he was so excited. And Virgil was just as excited as him! He was looking towards the future, as always, but this time he saw the positives as well. 

“Oh, we should start picking outfits! We could…” as Virgil let himself ramble on and on, he felt a sort of… shift. It was almost too small to notice, and if he’d been any less vigilant, he wouldn’t have caught it at all. Actually, it was as if he were more vigilant now, rather than just overly anxious like usual. There was no nervous pit in his stomach, yet he was still just as aware.

Wait. 

Come to think of it, this ‘switch’ in his mind felt familiar. Virgil stiffened as he realized what it was. The switch in his mind wasn’t just in his mind, and it wasn’t just figurative. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down, before telling Princey he had to go. As soon as Virgil was out of Roman’s line of vision, though, he  _ bolted _ to the nearest bathroom, the nearest one being down that hall. Glancing in the mirror, his dreaded suspicions were confirmed.

Purple eyeshadow stood in place of where his black eyeshadow had once been, fading into a sort of lavender at the edges. He lunged back from the mirror in terror as if by moving away, he could change it back, reverse it somehow. This wasn’t supposed to happen twice. It wasn’t even supposed to have happened  _ once _ .

But something in the back of his head, buried in a rushing river of thoughts, said,  _ this feels right _ . This shift, somehow. Virgil squeezed his eyes shut, trying in vain to stop the tears threatening to fall. This might change everything, and Virgil didn’t want that.

**~~~**

Janus didn’t know how it happened. One minute he was walking down the street with Logan and Thomas, talking about rearranging some schedules, the next minute he was falling, lower and lower, faster and faster, more and more shadows encompassed him, until he was thrust into complete darkness. He hit the ground with a thump and probably a rather large bruise on his left arm.

Holding his arm to his chest, the deceitful trait stood up and realized with a start that this was the Dark mindscape. His eyes were adjusted to being in light, so hardly anything was visible yet- only some vague shapes of the furniture. He hadn’t been down here in months, since Remus had been ‘welcomed’ into the light sides (well, he said welcomed, it was more like Janus didn’t want Remus left to be forgotten down there), shortly after himself.

“Hello?!” called a familiar voice from... somewhere.

“Hello! Who is that?!” Janus yelled back, successfully keeping the panic out of his voice. Having someone to be with could be dangerous, but it could also be beneficial.

“Wait- Janny?!” 

There was only one person who called him that. “Remus!” yelled the snakelike one, “follow my voice!” 

The two found each other less than a minute later by tripping over the same piece of furniture and crashing into each other. After greeting and hugs, the eventual question was asked by Remus. “Do you think Virgil’s here too?” asked the darker version of creativity. 

Janus’s face darkened. “No,” he said, looking down. “He’s one of them now, remember?” The dark-turned-light side had confirmed his ‘lighter’ position by opening up about his past to Thomas. By embracing his past, he’d cleared the way for his future - his future as a light side. He was up there with the other Light sides, probably enjoying being one of them.

_ Wait, wait a second... _ Janus looked over to Remus, who seemed to have just had the same revelation he had. Only the ‘switching’ of a side’s role could cause such a shift.

“Wait, remember what happened in my episode?!” Remus cried, waving his arms. “He told Thomas about his past! Some- something must have happened to him, we have to check!”

“Remus...” Janus hesitated before continuing. “You know that the light sides... aren’t very fond of you at the moment.” It was true; after revealing himself to Thomas, even while being unknowingly accepted, no one had been very welcoming of the darker Creativity. “I’ll go check on him, is the bond still active?” Janus asked. Remus said nothing but nodded. 

The two dark sides had established a sort of mental bond, a connection not unlike Remus’s ‘twin telepathy’ thing with Roman  **(like an empathy link for my PJO fans out there)** . Janus promised to contact Remus should anything have happened to the anxious side before sinking out and reappearing in the Light commons.

He was surprised when there was nothing there. “Virgil? Patton?” Janus called, as those two sides seems the most important to the current situation. Upon receiving no response, the deceitful side decided to check the real world, in Thomas’s living room.

“What are you doing here, snake?!” came a shout from beside Janus as he appeared. Looking over, he saw that it was Roman. 

_ Typical _ , thought Janus, and he decided to just get right to the point with the princely side. “Have you seen Virgil or Patton?” he asked.

“Yes, actually. Virgil just ran into the bathroom a few minutes ago. But how did you-“

“He did?!” Roman was surprised at Janus’s reaction. Did Janus know something that the princely side didn’t?

“What are you talking about, you sneaky schemer?”

“I just...” Janus wasn’t quite sure how to respond. He wasn’t sure how Roman would react if he knew, and what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. On the other hand, he’d been with Virgil all day, so he would know if something had happened to finally trigger a full switch. Janus decided to play it safe, asking a few only  _ slightly _ ominous questions without giving the situation away, and attained the knowledge he needed. “I just need to talk to him. Is he okay? How long ago did he run into the bathroom?” 

Okay, looking back on it, that might have sounded more than a little ominous. Roman eyed him suspiciously, asking, “Why do you need to know?”

The snakelike trait took a deep breath and swallowed his pride. “Please, Roman. I know that you don’t have a good reason to trust me, but this is important.”

He could see the princely trait visibly hesitate. “...he looked panicked when he left,” Roman finally said. “It was a few minutes before you came.”

Janus couldn’t even begin to voice the gratitude he had for Roman at that moment. Luckily he didn’t have time to, he was already going towards the bathroom, debating what he was going to say. 

**~~~**

“Virgil? Are you alright?” came a voice from outside the bathroom door.

He felt panicked at the thought of Roman seeing him.  _ Panic. Like before. _ He didn’t know if that thought comforted him or made it all worse. Roman had obviously seen his change before, if anything, it was the way he’d known that Virgil was overstressing in the first place.  _ How long has this even been going on? _

Roman spoke again, “Can you answer? Are you okay?” It sounded a little more concerned than last time. 

What should he say? That he was fine? That he had to use the bathroom? Those were all lies, the thing that they’d tried over and over to stop Thomas from doing back at the mall where he’d met Nico.

“I’m coming in, okay?” Roman sounded unsure, unlike his usual self. Definitely unlike how he’d been for the past few hours, all excited and chatty and sure of himself. 

“N-No! It’s okay!” Virgil forced out, gritting his teeth. This new sense of self felt right, yet he didn’t even know what that ‘self’ was anymore.

“If it’s so okay, then come out.” Wait, that definitely didn’t sound like Roman. Roman would go get Patton, tell him to try to convince Virgil to come out.  _ It’s not Logan either, he’s talking with Thomas… _

He realized with a start that it was Janus talking to him. He’d tried to stay away from the snake-like trait as much as possible, but sometimes it was unavoidable. Since Janus had moved in with the other light sides, they ran into each other a lot more often, though they rarely talked. If Janus was in a room talking with one of the others, Virgil left. If Janus walked in when Virgil was talking with someone, Virgil told him to get out (not that it ever worked).

Shaking himself out of the memory, Virgil took a few deep breaths. He didn’t need to be panicking right now. “Get away, Deceit.” He’d noticed before that they were both following a sort of pattern of using each other’s traits as insults, so much that it had become instinct for Virgil. 

There was an uneven breath on the other side of the door, and Virgil guessed that Janus didn’t realize that Virgil would know it was him. Regardless, he kept talking. “Look, I can tell you aren’t alright in there. I… I can go get Patton, if you’d like.” 

“As if I’d trust you with that. You might just disguise yourself as him.”

Janus was quiet for a moment.

Roman came running in from the other room. “Janus, have you-”

“No, Virgil seems to be rather adamant in his decision to hate me,” he responded. 

Virgil leaned against a wall, feeling his legs start to weaken. He was vaguely aware of how Roman and Janus’s voices had gone muffled. His vision blurring and darkening should have been a sure sign that something was wrong, but Virgil couldn’t hold onto a thought for more than a second, everything was slipping away... 

**~~~**

Janus had gotten a little caught up in his conversation with Roman, but when he heard a thump from the bathroom, his immediate reaction was to teleport in there to see what was wrong.

He saw Virgil collapsed on the floor, and, as Roman had said before, his eyeshadow was purple. There were also traces of tear lines on the unconscious side’s cheeks, but now Janus’s main focus was making sure Virgil was safe.

He wrapped his arms around the other and teleported both of them to the couch, knowing that Virgil’s room might have a negative effect on him since he had somehow changed. He laid the anxious side down on the couch, debating whether to call Patton or Logan up. In the end, calling both won, but just as Janus was about to do so, Roman ran in from over where they were standing before.

“What happened to him?” asked the princely side, voice dripping with concern, leaning over the couch to get a better look at the emo.

“I don’t know. For now though, we have to do the best we can with Anxiety being out of commission,” Janus said. He almost visibly flinched as he tasted the sickly sweet lie coming off his tongue. It was rare for him to lie on instinct nowadays. In all honesty, it might be better for Roman not to know that he knew. But Janus did know what was happening. 

Virgil was shifting again.

It wasn’t common for sides to switch, but it wasn’t unheard of. Almost all the sides had undergone a switch in Thomas’s childhood or teen years. Patton changed from the Heart to Morality, Logan from Curiosity to Logic. Janus himself hadn’t switched, though. When Creativity split, Roman and Remus were both affected by the results of a switch, which could be summed up to the fact that they had both done a switch of their own, from one side to two.

Roman hesitated, then suggested, “Do you want me to go get Patton? He’d probably know the most about this, since-”

“No, I’ll call up Logan. Patton’s ‘dad’ instincts would kick in, and the last thing Virgil needs is for someone to be all over him.” Janus bit his tongue at the slip up. He’d explained a little too much, Roman would get curious.

And the curiosity surfaced only a moment later when Roman questioned aloud how Janus knew so much about this if he didn’t know what was happening. “So you  _ do  _ know?” He asked accusingly, though there wasn’t any venom behind the words.

“Logan will explain it in further detail, but I suppose I can explain it to you the best I can,” sighed Janus. “Oh, one more thing. Could you conjure a thermometer?”

That last request confused the princely one. “What could you possibly-”

“Please, just do it. One of the forehead ones.” Hearing the usually high-held, deceitful trait ask for something in that way was all the confirmation that Roman needed that this was important. He conjured a forehead thermometer like Janus had asked and handed it to the other. Janus put it up to Virgil’s forehead.  _ Ah, that’s what he needed it for. _ “Virgil is switching sides, and not for the first time. Even switching once is dangerous- not deadly, but dangerous nonetheless- but I don’t even know how bad a second time could be.”

“Oh, that makes sen- Wait, what?!”  _ Switching? _ Hadn’t the emo nightmare already switched to the light side? If so, was he becoming dark again? That didn’t seem likely.

Luckily, Janus seemed to see the prince’s confusion. He explained further, “When Virgil first switched, he just switched… away from the dark sides, but not ‘to’ anything. This switch must be solidifying his position as a light side.” The snake-like persona sighed, not wanting to go through the stress of all of this again. The first time it was bad enough for Virgil, Janus had noticed from afar. He didn’t know if it would be worse this time.

Janus’s thought process was interrupted by a beep from the thermometer, signaling it to be done. Janus had to squint to read it and when he d-

“A HUNDRED AND ONE?!” Ohhh, this was bad. He knew that a switch could cause a small fever alongside other illness symptoms, but shouldn’t be this high!

“Dalmatians?” asked Roman, who was currently coloring in a Disney coloring book that he’d summoned.

“No- Virgil’s temperature!” he lowered his voice a little but not enough for it to be considered any less than a yell. 

Roman looked shocked to say the least. “What happened?! Why?!” he questioned the deceitful trait, who was currently rushing over to Thomas’s cabinet to get some medicine. 

“It’s  _ not _ a-a side effect of switching,” called Janus from the bathroom, rummaging through the cabinet. “Going- going back to the mindscape is  _ definitely _ safe, I  _ do _ know how stable Virgil is.” Janus’s mind was spiraling, thoughts running at a hundred miles an hour, and he was compulsively lying without even realizing. “Too much o-of a shift in s-surroundings  _ couldn’t _ danger him,” he lied again, his tongue betraying him amongst the chaos in his mind. Virgil would be fine. He would be fine.  _ That’s a Lie _ , his mind told him. He told his mind to shut up.

“Wait, what?” Roman called back, before realizing- “Oh, nevermind, I got it,” he corrected, realizing that the other was telling lies. “I’m getting Logan since you’re busy, okay?”

After getting confirmation from Janus, the prince summoned Logan, who rose up unknowingly in the middle of a sentence.

“-did he even-” Logan paused, looking around at his new surroundings. He’d been walking outside with Thomas while discussing some schedule rearrangements and Janus’s sudden disappearance. He saw Roman standing next to the couch, and looked behind him to see the deceitful trait himself coming out of the bathroom, a bottle of medicine in his shaky hand. 

The logical side was confused at first, but that confusion didn’t last for long as Logan looked down at the couch where Virgil was laying. The anxious trait’s forehead was beaded with sweat, and his facial features were scrunched as if he were stressed.

Logan started to question the situation, but Janus cut him off. “Virgil’s switching,” the snakelike one managed out without lying or stuttering. That was a little victory to himself.

“I- But that shouldn’t be possible. He’s already switched.”

Logan’s train of thought was cut off by Virgil making a small noise of discomfort. He, along with Janus and Roman, turned towards the anxious trait to see him shifting around on the couch, struggling to curl up. Janus bent down and quickly caught Virgil so he didn’t fall, and placed him gently back on the couch. This was definitely worse than last time.

The logical side speaking broke Janus out of his thoughts. “Are you going to continue to hold Virgil’s hand, Janus?” The side in question glanced down at his hand and quickly let go of Virgil's, letting drop to the side of the couch. 

“Oh, I wasn’t telling you to stop,” Logan corrected himself. “In fact, providing comfort may be the best figurative road to take.”

Indeed, Virgil seemed to be growing distressed again. Janus hesitantly sat down next to him, and gently pulling the other’s head into his lap, he started running his fingers through the anxious side’s hair.  _ Virgil used to love this _ , he remembered. The deceitful trait vaguely wondered if any of the other light sides knew that.

A cushion sinking down next to Janus indicated that someone had sat down on the other side of him. He looked over to see Logan slumped against the back cushion, eyes half shut. Janus realized with a start how late it was. Thomas would be getting back soon, he realized.  _ Oh, dang it, Thomas. _ He couldn’t let his host see him being so soft, especially with the one side that he was supposed to hate. It would thoroughly destroy his reputation- or what was left of it, seeing as both Logan and Roman were witnessing this. But, he supposed, he could let himself enjoy this moment for now.

Wait, no. He wasn’t supposed to be happy right now. Virgil was in pain. Logan was exhausted, and when Thomas got back from wherever he was, he’d be exhausted too. As if on cue, a creak came from the door, and Thomas came through it. He was carrying groceries- _ did he walk all the way to the grocery store and back?! _

“Oh, hey guys,” Thomas mumbled, obviously tired. He fumbled with the lock on the door before locking it, and put the grocery bags on the counter. “I’m gonna go to bed-” Thomas came to a full halt as he took in what was happening in front of him. “Sorry, what’s happening right now?”

Gods, Janus didn’t want to have to explain this again. Luckily, Roman took the liberty of looking up from his coloring book and explaining everything. From the purple eyeshadow to the passing out in the bathroom to the two sides cuddling on the couch. “And, well, that leads us to now.”

“I… wow. That is a lot to take in.” Thomas rubbed his eyes, the exhaustion getting to him. “I’m heading to bed, goodnight, I guess,” he yawned, and headed upstairs. Ever since he’d learned that the sides could stay out in the real world, he’d started leaving some cots in the coat closet, as well as gotten a few lay flat chairs to replace his old ones, in case for some reason any of them wanted to spend the night out there. Plus, even if none of the sides were spending the night in the real world, having those things just meant that he was extra prepared in case Joan or Talyn or any of his friends were spending the night.

After a while- Janus guessed that it must be around 11 at night- Roman set down his coloring book and went to sleep on one of the lay flat chairs, feeling too tired to set up a cot (and not wanting to leave Virgil, but he’d never admit it). Logan was fast asleep, as was Virgil, and Janus seemed to be the only one still awake. A knot formed in his stomach about telling Patton what was happening, as he’d realized the moral trait still didn’t know a thing. He let his mind wander as he wondered what Patton’s reaction would be.  _ He’d probably freak out, and overexert himself doing everything he could to help his ‘dark strange son’ _ . The tired snake suppressed a chuckle at that thought, it seemed like such a Patton thing to do. He let himself drift to sleep. 

The snake-like side woke with a jolt. Actually, it was more like someone was shoving him. He snapped his eyes open just in time to see Virgil pushing himself off of him. Logan was gone from next to him, he’d probably left earlier. Roman had also disappeared, which meant that only Janus and Virgil were left.

“Oh... good morning,” stated Janus awkwardly. What were you supposed to say to someone who had passed out on a bathroom floor, who’d woken up laying on top of the side who was supposed to be his rival?

He received a shrug from Virgil, who was curled up pressed against the other side of the couch. 

“I didn’t fucking ask for this,” Virgil muttered, probably to himself, but Janus chose to answer anyways.

“Ask for what?”

The vigilant side hesitated for a moment, as if choosing out words carefully. “Just, this. Switching again. Fucking passing out.” His voice sounded hollow. “The purple eyeshadow,” he chuckled dryly. 

“If I saw you with that eyeshadow out of nowhere, I’d probably think Patton had gotten to you,” said Janus, half-jokingly. 

To Janus’s surprise, Virgil laughed a little, but it turned into a heaving cough. It subsided soon enough, but it was still enough to make his throat feel like it was made of sandpaper. Seeing the snakelike trait’s concerned look, he managed to croak out, “ ‘M fine,” before clearing his throat trying not to cough again.  _ Lie _ .

At that moment, Patton rose up. “Kiddo!” he yelled, running over to the vigilant side. “Logan told me what happened, are you okay?!” He started to hug the other before hesitating.

Virgil was about to say something, then Patton spoke over him, “Do you need anything? Water, soup, ice cream?”

“What,” he croaked, then cleared his throat, “what I need is for you to not yell.”

Patton shut his mouth immediately, then said quietly, “Sorry, kiddo. I’m just worried.” 

“ ‘S okay, Popstar.” Janus felt a small pang of jealousness at how Virgil was being so… soft with Patton. Then again, Virgil and Patton had never had an argument that had escalated so much that it caused Patton to yell at Virgil to get out and never come back, and Patton had likely never had a physical fight with someone for a reason other than them talking bad about anyone of their “fam-I-L-Y”; there was that.

Janus remembered one of his first interactions with Patton after Virgil had left. Morality was hostile towards Deceit at first, so desperate to protect his family.

_ “W-What is it, Deceit?” They had met up in one of the neutral grounds between the light and dark sides. Deceit had asked Morality to meet up with him about a week after Anxiety had left. _

_ Deceit had hesitated, trying to find the right words. Of course Anxiety would probably have told Morality everything. After a few more moments, Deceit said, “Try your best to welcome Anxiety into your family, okay? It’s clear he’s never coming back to ours.” _

_ At first, Morality had been surprised. The big, bad Deceit, asking Morality for a favor? And basically admitting that he was in the wrong? “Are you planning something?” Morality had asked at first, skeptical of what could just be another one of Deceit’s acts. _

_ “Please. He deserves the world, and he probably isn’t going to trust me again after what I did. Make him feel welcome, make sure he feels loved. Don’t mess up where I did.” _

_ “I-” _

_ “And one more thing- please don’t tell him I asked you to do this. I have my reputation to uphold, after all.” _

_ And with that, Deceit vanished. _

Patton remembered that encounter too, clear as day. And he’d kept his promise. He tried to make sure that Virgil knew that he was never alone, ever since the first video they did together. He didn’t tell Virgil anything about his talk with Janus, either. He was Morality, who would he be if he couldn’t keep a secret? (he inwardly winced as he remembered the Q&A video.)

“Kiddo?” Patton asked to get Virgil’s attention.

“Hm?”

“Switching… is dangerous, right?” Patton obviously didn’t remember a lot about his switch, which happened when he was around eight.

“Yeah, kinda,” Virgil sighed, and started coughing again.

Janus picked the explanation where Virgil had left off. “When a side switches, it basically drains a lot of their energy and messes with their immune system a bit. It could drain too much energy and put the side into a coma-like state, and if they were to catch an illness somehow- which Virgil probably has- it can get bad.”

“I couldn’t have explained it better myself.” Everyone in the room looked over to the hallway next to the stairs, where Logan had risen up. When had he gotten there? “As Janus explained to Roman before, it is not safe for Virgil to go back to the Mindscape. Doing so would take up an abundance of energy, which Virgil doesn’t have. He must stay here until the switch completes.”

“When will it complete?” Patton questioned the logical side.

“The process takes about two weeks,” replied Logan instantly. He did his best to keep the concern for his friend out of his voice. In reality, he was worried about Virgil’s well-being within the two weeks that it would take for him to restore himself to full health. Something could happen to him during that time, he might expel too much energy and slip into a coma, the illness might get worse, he-

“Teach, I can feel your worry from all the way over here.” Logan whirled around to Virgil, who was laying on the couch. “I’ll be-” he was cut off by a string of coughs- “I’ll be fine,” he finished in a scratchy mumble. 

It took Logan a moment to figure out something to say. Virgil was, quite clearly,  _ not _ fine. “You should try to sleep,” the logical aspect of Thomas finally said. “You’re going to need it. Roman, come with me, I need to be able to enter the Imagination.” And with that, Logan sank down, Roman close behind. 

“Hey, Microsoft Nerd?” asked Roman once they were at the princely trait’s door.

“Hm?”

“Why do you even need to go to the Imagination? I mean, you’ve never expressed interest in it before.”

“Ah,” Logan furrowed his eyebrows, seeming to realize something, “I suppose I should explain. The library in the Imagination has an expanse of books that I don’t own. It should also have a section on switching from Dark to Light - or vice versa - and the effects of it.” He’d said that all in one breath, and took a deep breath afterwards. “So?”

“Right, of course.” Roman opened the door to his room, silently inviting the other side in. Logan stepped into the room and was immediately blinded by the sheer brightness of it all. Along one wall was shelves filled with every badge, medal, and trophy that Thomas had ever won. Another was covered with Broadway theater posters, among them being Hamilton (Logan’s personal favorite), Dear Evan Hansen, and Be More Chill. The wall opposite to the door had glass doors tinted red, which opened to a magnificent balcony over the Imagination. Green, leafy vines twirled around the railing in an almost magical way, giving the balcony an enchanted feel.

Logan went over to look over the balcony, only to see that he was suddenly high above the ground, the walls on either side of the balcony being part of a magnificent castle. The logical side turned back to Roman, who had a smirk on his face. “Like it?” asked the princely side, smiling wide. “I made everything myself. Look over on the horizon, that’s where the village with the library is.” Logan leaned towards the edge of the balcony just enough to get a good enough look at the large, baby-blue building with white trims. The bottom of it was covered by the trees, but even from this distance, Logan could tell that it was magnificent.

“This leads to the forest,” grinned Roman, gesturing to… a wardrobe?

Logan rolled his eyes. Roman was a fairytale fanatic, but Narnia? Seriously? Regardless, Logan always enjoyed a reference to a good work of literature. He followed after the princely side, wondering where in the forest they would appear.

At first, there was a bright light. Then, as the brightness faded, Logan was faced with the most beautiful forest he’d ever seen. The sunlight filtered through the trees creating a sparkling light show, colorful birds darting through the leaves. There was the sound of a waterfall in the distance, and the logical side could imagine the sparkling river running through the rocks, fish leaping out of the water. Logan felt like he could stay here for days, maybe even forever, and-

“Logan!” Roman’s voice snapped Logan out of his trance of childlike wonder. “I forgot, this realm has that effect on the other sides. I brought Patton here once when we were younger, it had that effect on him, too. It’s why I usually don’t bring anyone on my grand adventures.”

“What effect?” asked the logical side, though he was sure he knew. It was as if the Imagination was pulling him into a trance, highlighting the features that would captivate Logan the most, and calling to him. When Roman explained it similarly, Logan knew he had been right.

It was a little frightening, knowing that he could be pulled into a sort of trance any time he let his guard down. But as Logan was thinking that, Roman reassured, “You’ll be fine, I’ve already pulled you out of it.” That was partially reassuring. “Now, the library is just down there, about a ten minute walk or so.”

“Can’t we teleport?” Logan questioned.

“Not in my realm, you can’t. Makes it more fun.” Logan knew better than to question Roman’s reasoning behind that and followed the prince down a trail that was barely visible through all the tall grass and brush. 

-

Meanwhile, back in Thomas’s apartment, Virgil was trying to convince Patton and Janus to let him go back.

“Come on! It’s one trip, and Thomas won’t need to keep wasting supplies on me. I’m feeling pretty energized right now compared to earlier, so it’s relatively safe.”

“For the last time, no. You could go into a coma, and the little amount of energy you have right now isn’t enough, even one trip could be too much.” Janus remained firm. 

“I’ll be fine! See, look.” Virgil stood up abruptly, throwing his hands in the air as if to prove a point. Almost immediately, he was hit with a wave of dizziness. The whole room started to spin, as well as the vigilant side’s thoughts.  _ Or not... _ He felt someone catch him, and the last thing Virgil saw was a glint of yellow before everything went black. 

Janus, on instinct, had brought out his other four arms, and reached out with all six to catch the vigilant side. He set the other on the couch with an expression that was a cross of annoyance and concern. “Fuck him,” the deceitful side muttered, sitting next to Virgil.

“I dare you to,” Remus teased, seemingly appearing out of nowhere from behind Janus.

“Good morning to you too,” greeted Janus with a heavy sigh.

“And now my intrusive thoughts are here. Great,” deadpanned a voice from the top of the stairs. Thomas came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes as he did so.  _ How are they all up so early..? _ thought the owner of the apartment. It was still only eleven!

Remus threw a creepy grin Thomas’s way before turning back to the others. “I came to check on my favorite emo,” he said, throwing himself over the couch. “Ooh, purple eyeshadow! We’re eyeshadow buddies!”

Janus gave a small laugh, before offering a better explanation than earlier, when they’d both been thrown into darkness. “Remember how Virgil revealed the fact that he was one of us to Thomas? That, embracing his past, cleared the way for his future. He’s-”

Remus’s eyes widened, knowing what was coming. “He’s switching sides,” finished the creative side. This confirmed it, if the events before hadn’t.

Both sides were quiet for a few minutes, before Remus finally broke the silence, saying, “I’m happy for him.” 

“Yeah,” mumbled Janus.

A loud voice jarred all the aspects on the couch from their somber peace, singing, “We’re back, did you miss us?”

Janus glared at the princely side who’d announced his and Logan’s presence, hissing, “Sssshut up!”

Logan stepped forward, holding a stack of books up and saying, “I have a few books that should hold the necessary information for dealing with this switch.” And with that, after a quick glance at the emo side making sure he was okay, Logan sank out to his room to read the books and hopefully gather some useful intel. 

-

By the time Logan got back from reading all the books, it was late in the night. He’d received a scolding from Janus for skipping lunch and dinner before going back to his room for the night, but nothing more- the snakelike trait was worried about Virgil. The vigilant side had been awake on and off all day since he’d passed out, sometimes muttering things in his sleep. Remus had also been there all day, usually just sitting next to Virgil, comforting him when he looked distressed.

Virgil was laying against Janus, who was running his fingers through the other’s hair. After a while, he felt the vigilant side start to stir again. 

“Hey, shh...” said a soothing voice. Virgil cracked his eyes open to see Janus above him. His mind was still a mess of thoughts, most of them too muddled to make out. 

He cuddled closer to Janus, leaving the deceitful side stunned and speechless. He silently waved Remus over, who looked equally as shocked. The darker creativity came around the couch to sit on the other side of Virgil. Hesitantly, he leaned in to join in on the cuddle pile.

“Miss you guys…” mumbled Virgil, barely audible. Both of the dark sides exchanged a glance, both of their eyes wide, then Janus moved his gaze down to Virgil. “Don’t wanna pretend t’ hate you,” he murmured, snuggling closer. 

Both Remus and Janus couldn’t believe what they were hearing. They’d both assumed that Virgil just didn’t care to forgive them. Janus hadn’t tested for a lie before because he’d been so certain that that was the truth. Yet, when he stuck his forked tongue out to examine for lies, he found no sickly sweet scent. Virgil was telling the truth. He missed them, he didn’t hate them. It was obvious that he was out of it, otherwise he’d never say anything like that. He probably wouldn’t let himself go within five feet of either of them if he could help it.

Janus dozed off, happy to be in the company of his friends.

**~~~**

“Oh my god you guys are cuddling! Thomas come look at this!” came a whisper from the staircase. Janus cracked an eye open and looked over to see Patton looking through the rails of the stairs, waving Thomas over from upstairs. He had a huge smile on his face, no doubt happy because Virgil was finally getting along with Janus and Remus.

“That is pretty cute,” Thomas agreed, taking out his phone.

“Stop it! Don’t- don’t take pictures!” whisper-yelled the snakelike trait, face burning with embarrassment. He was careful not to be too loud as not to disturb Virgil. He doubted that the vigilant side would be very happy with this… any of this… when he woke up.

Thomas spoke again, luckily changing the subject. “Hey, Nico’s coming over today, so I kinda need you guys to go back up here.” He pointed to his head, yawning again and obviously forgetting all that Roman had told him about the situation.

Janus immediately stiffened, going into defensive mode. “We can’t! It’s too dangerous for Virgil, he-”

“Actually, if I may interrupt.” Logan rose up, book in hand. Encouraged by a nod from Thomas, the logical side continued. “Someone else could teleport themself with Virgil, and it would be safer. It would still take up some of his energy, but not so much that it would be dangerous. It would be smart to wait until he wakes up, though.” 

As if on cue, the vigilant side started to wake up. After a moment he glanced around with tired eyes, taking in the fact that everyone, save Patton and Princey, was in the room with him. “Yeah, this isn’t weird at all. Hi.”

“Nico’s coming over today, so we have to move you to the Mindscape.” Janus spoke stiffly with a hint of concern in his voice. Despite Logan telling him it would be okay, the snakelike trait still worried. There was still a risk, the chances of it happening were just lower.

“Shush your worrying, I’ll be fine.”

Right. Janus kept forgetting that Virgil could tell when another side was getting anxious.  _ Would he still be able to do that when the switch is complete? _ he wondered.

Hesitantly Janus placed his hand on Virgil’s arm, before allowing himself to sink down and appear in the Mindscape. He quickly looked over Virgil, who seemed to be fine at first glance. Soon after, though, the vigilant side began to feel a chill. Janus noticed that the other was shivering and called the others over. Virgil felt crowded, he was closed off, there were too many people. His thoughts were slipping away from him, too cold, too many people, no room, and his mind was spiraling further and further into a panic with seemingly no way out. Suddenly light was shining, brighter and brighter, and then there was nothing… 

**Author's Note:**

> I literally thought of this ending at 4 in the morning in a flash of inspiration (and wanting to get this thing done with) so yeah
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


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